Kidnapped
by Vinsmouse
Summary: Will Vin pay the price when someone from Chris' past returnsPlease review but play nice this is my first Mag7 fic. COMPLETE


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Kidnapped by vinsmouse

Chapters1. one

Disclaimer: Don't own, making no money from Warnings: Violence, child abuse, mention of rape

Archive: yes but please let me know

Feedback: yes please, but no flames

"Where am I? Who are you? What do you want?" The only question that matters Vin Tanner is what do I want and that will soon become apparent." Vin was answered by a disembodied voice. He was in what appeared to be a basement held by a chain in the wall. The chain was attached to a collar around his neck. He had no idea how he had gotten here, the last thing he remembered was... leaving the mall, after buying a birthday present for JD. He remembered heading to his car on the parking deck and then waking up in this room, chained to a wall. Vin didn't know who had kidnapped him or why, was it a skip from his bounty hunting days or was it someone the team had put away. What was going to happen to him? 'Why am I in my boxers?' he wondered.

Later, he had no idea how much time had passed, he heard a door open. "Who is it? Who's there?" It was at this moment he saw his captor. He was huge, bigger than Josiah, but he still didn't know who he was as his face was covered with clown make-up. Vin wasn't sure what scared him most, the size of the man, the make-up or the whip he held in his hands.

"Larabee" Chris was trying to finish up the last of the reports when his phone rang. "Chris Larabee"  
"Yes, who is this?"  
"This is Det. Ford with DPD do you know a Vincent Tanner?"  
"Vin? what's happened to him?" Det. Ford took a deep breath, he hated this part of the job, "Mr. Larabee it appears Mr. Tanner has been kidnapped"  
"What, how do you know that, has there been contact?"  
"No sir, his jeep was found at the mall with the door open and his wallet laying on the seat, we're dusting for prints but to be honest I doubt we'll find any." Chris ran a shaking hand through his hair 'kidnapped', his best friend had been kidnapped, he couldn't think. "Mr. Larabee do you think this could be related to a case you're working on?" Chris shuddered before answering " We just wrapped up a case so it could be that or an old enemy we'll start looking through our files see if anyone got out recently. Let me give you my home and cell phone numbers Det. call me as soon as you have anything." Chris took a deep breath and headed into the outer office "Conference room" once everyone was in the room Chris told them what was happening. A couple of hours later a courier entered the office "I have a delivery for a Chris Larabee."

Chris put on a pair of latex gloves and carefully opened the package. Inside he found a video. The first image was of Vin Tanner, chained to a wall, Chris gasped and heard the echoing gasps around the room. "Chris Larabee, you have been found guilty of betrayal, your punishment is to watch helplessly." The sound of the mechanical voice filled the room."You will watch the entire tape because I may leave clues throughout it." Suddenly there was another figure on the screen, a huge man with a clown face approached Vin. "Who are you? What do ya want?" They watched as the much larger man secured Vin's wrists so that he faced towards the wall. The man said something to Vin they couldn't hear, but they clearly heard Vin's response "No, yer lyin, he ain't involved in this; who are you?" They could no longer see the other man only Vin.

The first strike took everyone by surprise, they all cringed every time the whip struck Vin's back. Vin was able to hold out for 5 strokes of the whip, but his back was on fire and each lash only increased the flames. So with the 6th stroke he screamed, by the 20th stroke he was begging "Please stop, no more, please, oh God it hurts, please stop." After 5 more strokes he passed out. "Enjoy the show Mr. Larabee, further installments to come." with that the tape came to an end.

Nobody spoke for several minutes, finally Buck turned to Chris, "This is not your fault Chris, whoever is doing this has their own agenda." Chris turned on Buck and snarled "Not my fault, Buck that bastard made it clear this is about revenge against me. You know I could deal with that, I know I've made enemies over the years, but Vin shouldn't be paying the price. We have to find him, we can't let this guy keep hurting him." Buck nodded, "I know Chris and we will. Junior's gonna be okay he's tough, you know that and he will get through this."

Vin lay on the floor, shaking with cold and fear. 'He's lyin, he ain't, he wouldn't, no, Chris wouldn't do this.' The sound of the door opening startled him, he was back "I'm sorry Vin, but he says you have to be punished more. I was hoping the whipping would be enough but he says you haven't gotten what you deserve yet." Vin had tried to ignore his words, but at that his head snapped up "Yer lyin, ain't no way he'd be involved, I don't know who ya are but I know he didn't tell ya to do thi. Chris is my friend, he wouldn't do this, so ya can jist save yer lies." The man said no more, he simply approached Vin as he hung from the wall and threw a buck of water on him.

Vin screames as the salt water hit the cuts on his back. When he was able to breathe again, he noticed the man near the furnace. He saw the door to the furnace was open and several item's were sticking out of it. As the man extracted on of them from the flames Vin's eyes widened he began shaking his head in denial 'no, oh God he can't please somebody help me, Chris where are you?' The pain when the branding iron touched his side was like nothing he had ever felt. He screamed and bucked but there was no where to go, no escape. The man retrieved another and pressed it against his leg, this time he passed out.

Somebody was slapping his face, come on kid, we ain't done yet and he turned away to retrieve the third iron "No, please God pleas don't please, Chris help me, somebody help me no please nooooooooooo." The scream emitting from him was almost inhuman as the iron was applied to his back. Vin shook with fear as the man approached him again, "Chris told me to leave you hanging here."  
"No he didn't not Chris"  
"Yes, Vin Chris hired me to punish you, but I'm going to disobey his orders and let you lay down and rest; now what do you say?"  
"Go to hell, I ain't gonna believe ya, I know Chris wouldn't do this."Vin growled at his captor. The man simply shook his head in pity "I'm sorry you don't believe me Vin but I'll let you rest anyway" with that he released Vin's wrists allowing Vin to collapse onta a filthy mattress on the floor, still wearing the collar around his neck.

Chris stared in horror at the t.v., "Son of a bitch, God, how can he do that to another human being. I'm gonna kill him for hurting Vin."  
"Calm down stud, ya ain't gonna help Vin any if ya lose control." Buck tried to reason with Chris. "Goddamn it Buck you heard him, he's trying to convince Vin that I'm doing this to him." JD didn't understand why this man was telling Vin those lies, "Buck why is he lying to Vin, I mean doesn't he know Vin will never believe that Chris would do this to him?" It wasn't Buck but Josiah who answered him. He knew JD wasn't stupid, but sometimes they forgot just how young he was. "JD, son you're right under normal conditions Vin would never believe those lies, and yes Vin is a very strong man. But, he is still just a man and any man if he is tortured long enough and the same lies are repeated often enough he will start believing the lies. Hell he won't be able to tell lies from truth no matter how hard he tries."  
"Well in that case gentlemen I suggest we continue interrogating our contacts until such time as we are able to ascertain the current location of our missing comrade." They all looked at Ezra as though he had something growing out of his head. "Lord Ezra why can't ya just speak English."  
"I do believe I was Mr. Jackson."

It had now been 5 days since Vin had been kidnapped. 5 days and 5 tapes each showing more torture than the previous one. On each tape the man continued to tell Vin that Chris had hired him. Now they watched in horror as Vin begged Chris to make it stop, "Please, Chris I'm sor...sorry what...whatever I done I...I'm sorry...please Chris tell him to stop...please..." Vin curled up in a ball sobbing and pleading.

Hank Connelly watched as the man he hired, tortured the young man in the room and through him Chris Larabee. How dare he be happy, how dare he have a life. "You will never be happy again Chris Larabee. It's your fault my little girl is dead. I know you had her and Adam killed so you could go back to your wild ways. Thought you'd get away with it didn't you. Now you can suffer, you don't deserve to be happy. You or this punk you hired to kill Sarah and Adam.

Finally, they got the break they had been waiting on, one of the men who frequented Josiah's mission came forward. They approached the warehouse carefully, although Josiah's contact told them there were only 2 men in the building, they didn't know if they could trust his info. As they entered the building from different areas they found two men standing outside a room in conversation. One of them was the behomoth in clown face "Freeze ATF" Buck called. "We're unarmed" clown face called out as he dropped to the floor spread eagled. Josiah approached him and cuffed him while Ezra covered him. Meanwhile Buck and JD were cuffing and subduing Hank Connely. "Why Hank, why would you do this?" Buck asked trying to understand. JD was in shock Buck knows this guy" "Buck who is he?"  
"Well kid this is Hank Connelly, Chris' father-in-law. Josiah retrieved the door key from clown face and threw it to Chris. Chris and Nathan entered the room and approached Vin. "No, don't touch me, please leave me alone." Vin weakly pled with them. "Vin it's okay you're safe now, no one's going to hurt you." Chris attempted to soothe Vin, he didn't get the response he expected. "No stay away, why did ya have them hurt me, what did I do? What did I do?" Vin was becoming more and more agitated and Nathan had to ask Chris to leave. After Chris left the room Nathan was able to convince Vin to let him check him out and the first thing he did was to release the collar. "Chris, call 911, get an ambulance here now, Buck bring me some water he's dehydrated." Nathan called into the other room. A couple of minutes later JD entered with a bottle of water. "Where's Buck?" Nathan asked. "Trying to keep Chris from killing his father-in-law."  
"JD what the hell? Chris' father-in-law did this? Why?"  
"From what he's saying he's crazy. He thinks Chris hired Vin to kill Sarah and Adam so Chris could party with his friends." JD replied with disgust, then he looked at Vin again and asked, "Is he going to be okay Nathan?"  
"I don't know JD, he's been badly beaten, cut, burned, he's dehydrated and on top of all that he's been convinced that his best friend is responsible for the pain he is living with. Even if he recovers physically, I don't know how long it will be or if he can recover emotionally." Nathan sadly related this news to JD. Nathan stepped back when the EMT's arrived, telling them what he knew so far. Buck walked into the room as they were securing Vin on the stretcher when Vin saw him he reached out a hand "Buck, I'm sorry, sorry, don't know what I done. You'll tell me, won't you Buck, why did he do this? What'd I do?" Buck looked at Vin with tears in his eyes " Oh God, Junior it's gonna be okay, ya didn't do anything wrong. Please believe me Vin ya did nothing to deserve this, Hank lost his mind, he made a mistake." Vin looked at Buck in confusion as the EMT's loaded him in the ambulance and Nathan climbed into the passenger seat to ride to the hospital.

Buck turned away and sadly walked back to Chris and the others. "Buck is Vin going to be okay?" JD asked afraid to hear the answer. They could all see the tears in Buck's eyes as he answered JD "I...I'm not sure son, physically I think he will but he...he thinks he did something wrong. He thinks he deserved this but he doesn't know why. When I think about what Hank did to him, I'd like to kill him myself!"Buck looked around the warehouse. "Speaking of where is the SOB?" Buck was looking at Chris, but it was Josiah who answered "He's been taken to jail, they both have. I suggest we let DPD secure the scene while we head to the hospital." As they started toward the exit Buck realized Chris was standing still staring into the room where Vin had been held prisoner, had been tortured. "Chris come on stud let's go to the hospital and check on Vin. He's gonna need our help, especially your's." Chris looked at him in shock "Buck I can't help him, he can't stand to have me near him, he thinks I had this done to him. Hank convinced him that I was behind his suffering, that I was punishing him. How am I going to convince him that it's a lie?"  
"I don't know stud, but I do know ya can't do it from here, so what do ya say we go to the hospital and see how Junior's doing?" Chris just nodded his head and they headed to the hospital.

When they arrived at the hospital they found Nathan in the waiting room looking lost. "Nathan is Vin...?"  
"What Chris? He's still being examined, it's just hard to see him like this." Before Nathan could say anymore the ER was filled with a scream and team 7 headed towards the exam room en masse. Vin was fighting the Doctor and nurses with what little strength he had left as they tried to restrain him. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Get those damn restraints off of him."  
"Get them out of here and get him restrained." With lightining speed Chris had the doctor in a choke hold "Let me explain something Dr. Vin just spent 5 days being tortured, he was restrained the whole time, now get those restraints off of him." The Dr. nodded to the nurses who began removing those restraints they had managed to get in place. Buck moved to the head of the bed and began talking quietly to Vin. "Hey Junior, you need to calm down now, you're safe, ain't nobody here wants to hurt you. That's the Dr. and nurses they just want to help, will you let them help you?" Vin calmed at the sound of Buck's voice "Buck don't let them tie me down...please Buck I...I don't want to hurt no more." Vin practically sobbed. Buck took a deep breath quelling the urge to kill Hank Connelly with his bare hands. "Shhh...it's okay Junior, you're gonna be just fine. You just have to stop fighting and let them help you okay? Can you do that for me Vin? Will you let the Doc help ya?" Vin nodded his head and allowed the Dr. to proceed with his exam. The others left the room, all except Buck who remained to help Vin stay calm. It broke his heart as Vin lay on the table, shaking with fear but allowing the exam because Buck asked him to. 'Damn you Hank, you better pray for prison if I get the chance you'll wish you had never been born.' Buck couldn't understand how one man could hurt another so much, the worst part was the Vin and Chris were both innocent of any wrongdoing. Sarah and Adam Larabee were killed by a drunk driver, it was a tragic accident but that's all it was, an accident. Neither man deserved to suffer any further in this life.

In the waiting room silence reigned, no one felt like talking. Hell no one knew what to say. Nathan sat thinking about how hard Vin's physicall recovery would be. Wondering how much work he would miss and how to keep him from going stir crazy. Josiah prayed to God 'Please help brother Vin, Lord that boy had had a lot of pain and misery in his young life, help him to bear this load and Lord could you protect him from any more misery in this life or at least for a few years.' Ezra and JD both were simply terrified that they would lose Vin, what would happen to their family if Vin didn't recover. Chris suffered the most, fear, anger and guilt warred for dominance within his soul. He didn't know how he would convince Vin that he had nothing to do with his torture. 'Damn Hank, how could you do this? You SOB if you thought I was to blame for Sarah and Adam, why didn't you just come after me? Vin didn't do anything to you or anybody else.' Chris knew Hank had lost his mind, he had realized that at the warehouse. It didn't help with his anger, hell Hank hadn't spoken to Sarah for years and never knew Adam so why fixate on avenging their deaths. As he turned around he saw Buck headed towards them. "Buck, how is Vin?"  
"Why don't we let the Dr. explain what's going on?" Dr. Miller looked around at the rest of team 7 and began, "Mr. Tanner will be fine, but it will take some time. He has numerous cuts and bruises, 4 broken ribs, several second degree burns which had resulted in an infection, he is dehydrated and exhausted. He's being admitted we'll be giving him a saline solution for the dehydration, antibiotics for the infection and pain killers. Physically he should recover fully in 4-6 weeks. We'll keep him in the hospital for at least 3 days, longer if neccessary. I would strongly urge you to make sure he speaks to a counselor about his ordeal. It really will help in the long run."  
"When can we see him Doc?" Nathan asked for all of them. "He should be settled in his room in about 30 minutes you can see him then. Mr. Wilmington, could you come back with me, a friendly face will probably help with the transfer."  
"Sure thing Doc." Buck replied with a tired smile as he walked back the way he came. After Vin was settled in his room the others finally had the chance to visit him. Even though they had all seen him at the warehouse and in the ER it was still a shock to see Vin in the bed so weak and afraid. The surrounded the bed offering their support to their brother. Vin was beginning to relax, surrounded by his friends he finally felt safe. Vin shifted his position, trying to find a comfortable spot, "Oh God, Chris what did I do?" he whispered as he spotted his best friend near his bed. Chris couldn't hide the anger in his eyes "Vin, you were lied to, I had nothing to do with this. I wish we could have found you sooner, you should never have been put through this hell." Vin listened to Chris, unsure what to believe, he had tried to ignore what his tormentor was saying, but after so long without any other's to talk to, so much pain, not being allowed to sleep, he was thoroughly confused. Completely exhausted he could no longer think logically, he began to shake and his heart began to race as he tried to control his fear so he could think. Suddenly Vin passed out, nurses rushed into the room as the heart monitor flatlined.

"He's arresting, clear the room and get a crash cart in here!" yelled on of the nurses as another paged Dr. Miller to Vin's room. Team 7 was made to leave the room and a few seconds later a crash cart was rolled into the room. They watched in fear as Vin's body convulsed from the shocks being sent through it, in an attempt to restart his heart. Finally after three tries, a nurse announced the pressence of a normal sinus rythym. Dr. Miller requested several tests to be adminstered and went to talk to team 7. When he heard about Hank's attempts to fool Vin and Chris' conversation with Vin, he felt he had a good idea as to what had caused the cardiac arrest. "Gentlement I believe I know what caused this episode, before I tell you let me say I will be running tests to determine what caused this. Mr. Larabee I think you should not visit Vin until he has gotten some true rest."  
"Wait a minute are you saying I caused Vin's heart to stop!" The Dr. sighed, "Not exactly, try to understand, Mr. Tanner is physically and emotionally exhausted. He was tortured and part of that torture was little or no sleep, additionally he was continually told his friend had ordered the torture. To put it simply, he is at this time unable to think logically and any stress is more than he can handle, but if you give him a couple of days, allow him to rest and he should be able to handle the entire situation better." With that the Dr. left the waiting room, leaving six men to wonder what to do next. The silence was broken by Chris, "why don't the rest of you go see Vin, I'm going to talk to the D.A., find out what they plan to do about Hank and his thug." Buck began to speak, "Chris..." 'What can I say to help' "We'll keep you updated on Vin's condition, why don't you take Ezra with you."  
"I don't need a babysitter Buck." Chris growled at his oldest friend. Buck shook his head, "Didn't say you did Chris, but tact ain't your strong suit and ya shouldn't be alone right now, in a few days Vin will be ready to listen to reason you just have to hang in there." Chris sighed, "fine, come on Ezra let's go see the D.A."  
"Of course Mr. Larabee it would be my pleasure." Ezra responded smoothly.

After Chris and Ezra left Nathan spoke up "Look, we all need rest, but since none of us wants Vin to be alone I have an idea." After a short discussion it was decided they would take shifts sitting with Vin. Thinking he would probably sleep for quite a while, they let JD take the first shift of 6 hours, Nathan would take the next shift, then Buck and finally Josiah.

Chris and Ezra met with DA Michaels at his office they were all anxious to find out what was happening with Vin's case. "Mr. Larabee, I know you're anxious to see Connelly and Davis punished, so let me tell y9u what is happening so far. They are both being charged with kidnapping, assault of a federal agent, and unlawful imprisonment. The arraingment will be Monday morning, I hate to tell you this but Connelly will probably try for an insanity plea, which we will fight against. I promise you Mr. Larabee I will do my best to make sure these men suffer the full consequences of their actions. I've seen the tapes and I know Vin is a good man, I want justice as much as you do." Ezra was quite surprized, as Chris Larabee listened without interruption, when he finally spoke it was with great emotion. "Thank you Mr. Michaels, I'm glad to know you want them punished as much as we do. I will be at the arraingment on Monday, let me know when you're ready to go over my testimony."  
"Of course, I'll see you on Monday then."

When Buch arrived at the hospital, Nathan told him Vin had not woke up yet although he had been restless for the last hour or so. Buck took a seat next to the bed and when Vin began to mumble in his sleep Buck took his hand in his placing his other hand on Vin's forehead to try to comfort him. "Shh, it's okay Vin, you're safe now, nobody's gonna hurt ya, ya got my word Vin you're safe." Buck kept whispering to Vin until he finally settled down. Thirty minutes later he was taken completely by surprise when Vin woke up crying out in fear. "Vin, calm down, you're safe they're gone. Hank can't hurt you no more, you're safe, youre okay." Buck held Vin until he stopped shaking. "Better now," at Vin's nod he began to move away. "Please don't leave me." the heartfelt plea ripped through him like a knife. "Just moving to the chair Junior, I won't leave you, okay?" After a few minutes Vin spoke,"Buck, who's Hank, is that who he hired?" Buck shook his head sadly, "Hank Connelly was Chris' father-in-law, he was behing what happened to you. The man who hurt you was named Roy Davis, Hank was outside the room watching the whoe time. Vin, Chris had nothing to do with this, Hank lost his mind, he's always been a mean SOB and he hates Chris, he convinced himself that Chris hired you to kill Sarah and Adam so he could be free of his responsibilities. That's the reason he hurt you, he also made tapes and sent them to Chris, he wanted Chris to know, to watch what was being done to you." Vin was shocked, he wanted to believe Buck, somwhere inside himself he knew Buck was being honest with him. But Davis' word kept coming back "Chris Larabee knows what you did and he says you have to be punished for your sins." Nothing made any sense how could Chris know the records were sealed and even if he did why would he decide on punishment. Vin couldn't think right now, he turned his head away and drifted into a restless sleep.

As the days passed Vin continued to be plagued by nightmares, each time he woke in fear and pain one of his friends was there to offer comfort. As Buck had done they each tried to convince him that Chris had nothing to do with this. The next day JD arrived with a VCR and the first tape Hank had sent to Chris. "JD what are you doing with the VCR?"  
"Buck, I've been thinking..."  
"Always dangerous"  
"Very funny, Vin I think this is the only way to convince you that Chris is also a victim in this mess." With that statement JD began the tape, when Vin saw himself he started to become upset, which caused Buck to try to turn off the tape. As he reached for the remote Vin reached out a hand to stop him. "Oh God, it was a set-up, Chris wasn't involved, he doesn't hate me." Vin practically cries with relief. "Buck I need to see Chris, Lord I've been a fool, how could I believe those lies, what kind of friend am I? What if Chris doesn't want to see me?"  
"Whoa, slow down son, Chris only stayed away cause he didn't want to upset you. The lies only worked because ya were tortured and exhausted so that ya couldn't think straight. Ya got nothing to feel guilty about, ya understand me Vin?" Vin nodded his head "Thanks Buck, I needed that, could ya call Chris, see if he can come to the hospital?"  
"Actually Chris is in the waiting room," JD told them, "when I brought the tape I was hoping this would be the result." Buck left the room and walked quickly to the waiting room, "Chris, you ready to go see Vin?" Chris looked at Buck with such relief it nearly stole Buck's breath "Thank God, does he know now Buck that I didn't order his torture."  
"He knows stud, and he's feeling guilty for believing their lies so come on lets go put both your minds at rest." Vin looked towards the door as Chris and Buck entered, when he saw Chris he had to look away. He couldn't believe he had been that stupid, he felt Chris' hand on his chin "Don't please" he begged as Chris forced him to look at him. "Don't Vin you have nothing to feel guilty for, you were tortured, they starved you, kept you sleep deprived. All of that was done not only to hurt you, but so you wouldn't be able to think straight. I'm sorry you got hurt because of my past." Vin looked at Chris with shock "No it ain't yer fault, yer fath...Hank was crazy, is crazy, that ain't yer fault, tell ya what Chris, I'll stop feeling guilty if you will." Chris nodded unable to say anything past the lump in his throat. Later that day Vin was told he would be released the next day, Chris was in the room and suggested Vin come to his ranch to recover. Vin readily accepted, thankful he didn't have to ask, he didn't want to admit that he was afraid to be alone. Over the course of the next week Vin's nightmares continued, at the end of the week Chris came home from the office with good news. "Hey cowboy got good news for you, DA Michaels called today Hank and Davis both pled guilty. Hank will be given life in the State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Davis is going to be sentenced to 25 to life for his crimes. You won't have to testify, isn't that great?" Vin couldn't believe it he looked closely at Chris trying to determine if this was real or not. "Is this fer real Chris, I won't have to see either of them again, won't have to tell a room full of strangers what they done? Ya mean it Chris?"  
"Yeah Vin I mean it, maybe now your nightmares will grow fewer until they stop."

That wish however was not to be, a week later Vin returned home but his nightmares continued. Two day later Vin returned to work, as the weeks went by the rest of team seven became increasingly concerned as it was obvious Vin was still having problems. Finally one Saturday the entire team met at Chris' ranch they had decided it was time to talk to Vin. Chris began, "Vin we need to talk."  
"Sure Chris what's up?" Chris took a deep breath, "Vin we're worried about you it's obvious that you're not sleeping well. Talk to us Vin, tell us what's going on." Vin looked around the room "What is this an intervention, nothings going on jist too many late nights, so if that's all I think I'll jist go back to my place." As Vin began to get to his feet Buck pushed him back into place "No Vin it ain't all, look I don't understand, what are you hiding, why won't ya let us help?" Vin just looked away ' how do I tell ya's. I'm scared, don't want them to hate me.' Josian spoke next "What are you afraid of son? Whatever it is we can help, but only if you let us, please Vin let us help." The others continued in the same vein but the deciding voice was JD's "Vin, if it was me dealing wiht this I know you would tell me that there is no shame in asking for help and you would remind me that the team, my family would be there for me. It holds true for you too Vin." Vin shuddered "I...when they...were telling me that Chris was punishing me they said he knew what I done. Ive been having nightmares about ya'll throwing me out being alone again."  
"Vin," Chris interrupted, "no matter what we would never turn our backs on you, like JD said we're family." Vin shook his head, how to tell them, "Guys, I don't have a lot of experience with family, the only family I ever had was my mother and my sister. Mama died when I was 5. After that we was bounced from one foster home to another, most of 'em were bad. Anything from neglect to beathing it could get pretty bad sometimes. What I thought ya'll knew was, hell ain't no easy way to say it, I killed a man when I was eleven; no one know except Judge Travis, the records were sealed cause of my age." The shock was huge, whatever they had thought, it was not even close to the truth. He could see the shock and questions in their eyes and decided to plunge ahead instead of waiting for them to voice their questions. "This ain't easy, so it'd help if ya don't ask questions, jist listen. When mama died me and my twin sister Valerie ended up in foster care. Not sure how but they managed to keep us together, course now I ain't so sure that was a good thing. When we was ten we were sent to live with the Colt's, she was some kind of religious nut and he was jist a bastard. We found out pretty quick how things worked there, they had a system ya see. Mr Colt would beat ya and then Mrs. Colt would lock ya in a closet, the whole time he's beatin ya and when ya were in the closet, she'd be spouting at ya bout yer being a sinner, ya's evil it's why ya got no partents. God took em away cause ya didn't deserve 'em, so after a year we's both pretty much scared all the time. Shrinks said the only thing surprised 'em was that it didn't happen sooner. The night it happened, I woke up and heard something, but I couldn't figure out what it was. Well, I got up and went to check on Valerie, only she weren't there. I heard a noise again, it was downstairs I's worried about my sister so I went to see what was happening. He was...raping her...and she was fighting 'em best she could. All that did was make him mad and he's hittin her, I jist stood there for a few minutes, didn't know what ta do. I saw the ball bat in the corner and I hit him with it, hard as I could, he came after me then. Starting saying how if I wanted in on the fun he could oblige me, he held me down and...he...he put his dick in my mouth...I bit it, he picked up the bat and started hittin me. I saw my sister, she was gettin into the desk, he must of seen me looking cause all of a sudden he was on her, he grabbed hold of her round her neck, she couldn't breathe, I managed to get to the dest that's when I saw the gun, it's what she was after. I screamed at him to stop, he came at me laughting, said I didn't have the guts, I's scared, hadn't never been so scared in my life that's when I pulled the trigger, had to shoot him five times, bastard wouldn't go down, he finally did. It didn't matter though I's too late when I got to Valerie I could see she's dead, her eyes was open but she weren't seeing nothin. Next thing I remember is being in the hospital, I spent two years in the state hospital after that. I didn't talk the whole time I's there, they finally figured out that hellhole wasn't helping any and they put me in a theraputic foster home. That's a special kind of home they get training to help kids like me, kids that was traumitized, I's there four years, it was the best time of my life up til then, course wouldn't a took much. They were great Beth and Brian Williams, they helped me find my way back, they helped me get my soul back fer me, then they was killed by a drunk driver and I ran away. I weren't going to no more foster homes, knew they'd put me in a regualr home and I's scared it'd be like before so I high-tailed it out of there and ended up in Denver. The whole time Davis was telling me Chris was punishing me. He said Chris knew about me and knew what I done. That's why I ain't been sleeping good, keep havin dreams that ya'll throw me out, tell me I shoulda died when I's a kid, world woulda been better off iffen I had." Vin walked to the window and looked out, he couldn't look at any of his friends. He was so scared that they would react like they did in the dream.

Chris approached Vin carefully, he didn't want to spook him, he stood next to Vin and gently placed an arm around his shoulder. He felt Vin stiffen, but he didn't pull away. "Vin, I ...you're amazing, my friend, I have no idea how you survived all of that and remained sane. But you did even more than that you grew into one of the finest men I have ever known, most people would have curled up and died after going through that hell. Look at me Vin, we are your family and we love you we would never turn our backs on you. We might get angry sometimes, but we won't throw you out, we will always be there for you." Vin looked at Chris, seeing only sincerity and love in his eyes. When he looked at the others he was amazed to see the same look form them as they expressed their agreement with Chris. He had managed to hold himself together while he told his story, but seeing the support from his friends, no his family he couldn't hold it in, he stepped towards the kitchen saying something about a beer. He made it half-way when his knees buckled and he collapsed to the floor, his family was there as he was consumed by his sobs. He kept trying to swallow them, but it seemed the more he tried the harder he sobbed until he was completely exhausted. Chris and Buck helped him to the guest room where he quickly fell into an exhausted sleep.

While Vin slept, the others sat in the living room discussing what they had learned about Vin. Buck expressed it for all of them, "If that SOB wasn't already dead, I'd kill him myself. How did that boy survive, let alone turn into a decent man. I can't even imagine how he must've felt, to watch your twin raped and murdered, to kill a man when you're only eleven. God I want to hit everyone of the assholes who let that boy down, who caused him to suffer." Chris wrapped a hand aroung the back of Buck's neck, "I know Buck, I think we all feel the same way, I'm just not sure we should let Vin see it."  
"Brother Chris, I think you're wrong, I think we should let Vin see our anger. We just have to make sure he knows it's the one's who hurt him that anger us, not him. I think he needs to see that we care enough to be angry on his behalf. I doubt anyone had given him that gift since his sister died."

So it was that when Vin awoke he was surprised to find the others still at the ranch. Over the course of the next several months Vin's nightmares were banished by the support of his family. He was amazed and touched that they would want to hurt those who hurt him and his sister. He was finally able to believe that he had a family who loved him, that they would always be there for him, he was finally home.


End file.
